Paper dispensers

ABSTRACT

THE DISPENSER CONSISTS OF A STEEL BOX WITH AN OPEN BOTTOM, TO BE FASTENED TO A WALL. THE REAR WALL OF THE BOX CARRIES TWO ARMS WELDED AT RIGHT ANGLES AND ROTATABLY BOLTED TO THE REAR WALL. EACH ARM CARRIES A 90* BEND FOR RECEIVING A ROLL OF TOILET PAPER. DIMPLES IN THE REAR WALL LOCK THE ARMS IN DISPENSING POSITION.

Feb. 9, 1971 c F BENNETT ET AL 3,561,836

' PAPER DISPENSERS Filed Jan. '14, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 CURTIS F. BENNETT I GEORGE QWRK INVENTORS.

-BY I W4 2? Feb. 9, 1971 C. F. BENNETT ET AL PAPER DISPENSERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 14, 1969 FIG. 3..

FIG. 2.

CURTIS E BENNETT GEORGE C'WFUGHT INVENTORS;

1 BY W 441:; 63c

United States Patent 3,561,836 PAPER DISPENSERS Curtis F. Bennett, 655 W. Hatfield St., and George C. Wright, 965 Calle Bocina, both of Tucson, Ariz.

Filed Jan. 14, 1969, Ser. No. 791,066 Int. Cl. B65h 19/00 US. Cl. 312-39 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The dispenser consists of a steel box with an open bottom, to be fastened to a wall. The rear wall of the box carries two arms welded at right angles and rotatably bolted to the rear wall. Each arm carries a 90 bend for receiving a roll of toilet paper. Dimples in the rear wall lock the arms in dispensing position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the dispensing of material in rolled strip form such as paper, cloth, plastic and thin metal. Paper towelling and toilet paper are examples of such material commonly dispensed in rolls.

It is a usual practice, in the toilet rooms of factories and other industrial establishments, to provide roll toilet paper dispensers with some provision for more than one toilet paper roll. Many forms of container have been devised to dispense a roll of toilet paper and, when a roll is used up, to present a fresh roll for use.

Most such dual or multiple roll dispensers which have been devised are unsatisfactory, being complicated, expensive or subject to failure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present roll strip dispenser is simple, easy to manufacture and so rugged that it can withstand the abuse of factory use. It provides two rolls of toilet paper for use in sequence, with provision allowing the putting of the second roll into position for use only after the first roll has been used up. The invention dispenses with the use of a key to open it to recharge with fresh rolls. Means are provided to prevent spinning of the roll and consequent wastage of paper.

The invention provides a box, open at the bottom, intended to be secured to a wall. The box contains two arms joined at a right angle, with the juncture pivoted to the rear wall of the box. The arms are made of flat strip material; each arm is bent at 90 to extend away from the wall to which it is pivoted. Each arm extension is long enough nearly to reach the front wall of the box, and has a length adequate to receive a toilet paper roll. At the pivoted junction of the arms a resilient member and friction members are provided. Stops are arranged to hold the arms in one or the other dispensing position.

One object of this invention is to provide a roll strip dispenser for dispensing two rolls consecutively.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dispenser which is not locked yet which discourages theft of rolls.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dispenser which does not permit easy positioning of the second or reserve roll for use until after the first roll has been used.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dispenser which is easily recharged after either one or two rolls have been completely used.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A further understanding of this invention may be se- 3,561,836 Patented Feb. 9, 1971 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a sheet metal box is provided with a rear wall 1, a front or front wall 2, a right side 3, a left side 4 and a top 6. The box has an open bottom and'the left side 4 and the front 2 are partly cut away to form an Opening for reloading. The box may be formed by casting, welding, pressing or otherwise, but must be stiff and strong enough to support and protect the mechanism.

A first arm 7, and second arm 8, are similar but not identical. They are crossed at right angles and secured together by welding or otherwise to form a rotatable arm unit. The arms extend beyond the junction a short distance as shown at 7 and 8'. The arms are pivoted at the juncture to the rear wall 1 by means of a pin or bolt and spring. Each arm is provided with a bend at a distance from the pivot point somewhat greater than the radius of the strip roll to be used in the dispenser. Each of the bent portions of the arms, as shown at 7 and 8", has a length slightly greater than the length of the strip roll and slightly less than the distance between the rear side 1 and the front 2. The arm 7 is provided with an offset bend near the juncture with arm 8 so that arm 7 as well as arm 8 can lie flat against the rear wall 1 of the box. The extension 7' also is slightly bent for the same reason. The arms are made of strap metal having squared edges and stiff enough to be substantially rigid and unbending in normal use and maintenance. The width of the strap metal is preferably 40% of the diameter of the hole in the center of the strip roll with which the dispenser is intended to be used, but the width may vary from 40%; it should preferably but not necessarily lie within the limits of 25% to 50% for best operation.

The design of the arm unit is more clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A pivot bolt 9 passes through a clearance hole in the rear wall 1 and through clearance holes in the secured-together arms 7 and 8. The bolt 9 is held with a washer and nut 11. The arms are pressed against the rear wall 1 by a spring 12 carried by the bolt 9. This spring-pressure is sufficient to cause the arms 7 and 8 and their extensions 7' and 8' to press against the rear wall 1 with considerable friction. The function of the arm extensions 7' and 8' is to provide leverage in conjunction with the spring action when the arms are lifted from the rear wall 1.

The rear wall 1 is provided with two dimples 13 and 14, FIGS. 1 and 3, projecting a slight distance into the interior of the box. Alternatively, one or both may be substituted by a fillister or round-head screw, which may also be used to help secure the box to a wall. 'Ihese dimples are at different distances from the pivot pin 9 and are so positioned as to embrace and hold an arm in position for dispensing the strip.

The arm 7 is provided on its surface adjacent to the rear wall 1 with a ramp 16, so positioned on the rear edge as to ride on and over dimple 13 when the arm is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as seen in the drawings.

The arm 7 is provided with a second ramp 17 on the front edge of its surface adjacent to the rear wall 1, so positioned that when the arm is rotated clockwise the ramp 17 will ride over dimple 14.

The arm 8 is provided on its surface adjacent to the rear wall 1 with a ramp 18', so positioned on the front edge as to ride on and over dimple 14 when the arm is rotated in a clockwise direction as seen in the drawings. The arm 8 is also provided with a second ramp 19 on its surface adjacent to rear wall 1 and positioned on its rear edge to ride over dimple 13 when rotated counterclockwise.

The dispenser is intended to be installed for use by securing its rear wall 1 to a wall of the room by screws or otherwise. Holes (not shown) for screws may be provided as desired in rear wall 1, with matching holes, if desired, in front 2 for insertion of a screwdriver.

In order to fill or recharge the dispenser with two rolls of toilet paper, assume that the arms are empty and in their furthest counterclockwise position. They are rotated clockwise until the arm 7 strikes and rides over dimple 14 and stops against dimple 13. The arm 7 is then grasped by its L portion 7" an pulled away from the rear wall 1 against the resilience of spring 12 until it can ride over dimple 13. The lengths of the arm portions 7" and 8" are slightly less than the distance between rear wall 1 and front 2 in order to permit this action. The arms are then moved clockwise until the arm 8 rides over dimple 14 and is stopped against dimple 13. The arm 8 is then likewise lifted against spring 12 pressure and the clockwise rotation is continued until arm 8 arrives under the cutout opening in front 2, in recharging position. A toilet paper roll can now he slid over arm 8" into the second dispensing arm position. The arms are now rotated counterclockwise until ramp 19 rides over dimple 13 and arm 8 stops against dimple 14. A screwdriver is now inserted between arm 8 and the rear wall 1 to lift arm 8 over dimple 14, when counterclockwise rotation can be continued until arm 7" is in recharging position under the cutout part of front 2. A second roll of paper is now slipped over arm 7" into the first dispensing arm position and the counterclockwise motion is continued until ramp 16 of arm 7 slides over dimple 13 and the arm stops against dimple 14. Dimple 13 now locks arm 7 in this ready-for-use or common dispensing position.

The arm 7 and its roll of toilet paper cannot readily be moved from this position of use, it being nearly impossible to move without use of a tool while the toilet roll is in place because of the close fit of the roll between rear wall 1 and front 2.

In dispensing paper from either roll, the fiat metal strip on which the paper roll rides provides enough roughness, friction and eccentricity to prevent the roll from continuing to spin by inertia when a strong tug has been given to the paper. This economizes paper by preventing waste. When all of the paper on arm 7" has been used the arm 7 can now easily be grasped by collapsing the empty roll core with the fingers and pulling the arm 7 out against the retractile force of spring 12, so that the arm 7 can now be moved clockwise over dimple 13 and rotated until arm 8 snaps into the operating or common dispensing position between dimples 13 and 14, preventing further rotation in either direction.

What is claimed is: 1. A roll strip dispenser comprising a box having an open bottom, a partial front and a partial side;

a rotating arm unit including two arms for holding two rolls, said unit rotatably secured to said box;

means for holding said rotating arm 'unit in a first dispensing arm position or in a second dispensing arm position;

means locking either arm of said rotating arm unit in the common dispensing position and allowing manual movement of said rotating arm unit from the first dispensing arm position to the second dispensing arm position only after substantially complete exhaustion of the roll dispensed in the first dispensing arm position; and allowing manual movement of the unit to the recharging position only after substantially complete exhaustion of both rolls; and

means damping roll rotation whereby inertial rotation of a roll after a strong tug is substantially prevented.

' 2. A roll strip dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which said rotating arm unit comprises a first arm for holding a roll in said first dispensing arm position;

a second arm for holding a roll in said second dispensing arm position, each said first and second arms having an arm extension and a L-portion;

means securing said arm together at a juncture at a 90 angle said juncture defining the beginning in each arm of said arm extension;

means at the juncture of said arms for rotatably mounting said rotating arm unit at a selected point on the rear wall of said box; and

spring means resiliently pressing the juncture of said rotating arm unit toward said rear wall.

'3. A roll strip dispenser in accordance with claim 2 in which said 90 L-portions are identical and extend normal to said rear wall to within a selected distance of the opposing front wall of said box.

4. A roll strip dispenser in accordance with claim 3 in which means for holding said rotating arm unit in either of a first or second dispensing arm position comprises two protuberances fixed on said rear wall at differing distances from said selected rotatably mounting point, said protuberances being so positioned as to lock either arm at the common dispensing position, said protuberances projecting above the surface of said rear wall into the box a distance less than said selected distance by which the 90 L is less than the distance between rear and front walls.

5. A roll strip dispenser in accordance with claim 4 in Which said means locking either arm in the common dispensing position and allowing movement of said rotating arm unit from a first dispensing arm position to a second dispensing arm position only after substantially complete exhaustion of the first roll comprises said two protuberances, together with the squared edges of the arms in common dispensing position, together with the non-accessibility of the 90 L when a non-exhausted roll is in place thereon, whereby it is substantially impossible to lift the arm over the protuberance against spring tension by the fingers alone and without the aid of a tool.

6. A roll strip dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which said means damping roll rotation comprises the provision of metal strip material as the axis on which each roll turns.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,839,346 6/1958 Lawalin 312-39 3,246,937 4/1966 Galbraith 31239 3,387,902. 6/1968 Perrin et al. 3 l2-39 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner 

